


Phantom Partners: The Kwami Investigation

by QueenCorb_Starrgazer, RascallyRaven



Category: Castle, Miraculous Ladybug, The Dead Files (TV), The InBetween
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Spirits, Art and writing, Awkward Romance, Case Fic, Castle - Spin off, Collaboration, Detectives, Eventual Romance, F/M, Gen, Ghosts, Medium - Freeform, Miraculous Ladybug AU, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Mystery Stories, Paris (City), Police, Romance, Slow Romance, Spirit Animals, Spirit Guides, Spirit World, Spirits, The Dead Files - spin off, The InBetween style, The Inbetween - spin off
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2020-05-07 18:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19215283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenCorb_Starrgazer/pseuds/QueenCorb_Starrgazer, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RascallyRaven/pseuds/RascallyRaven
Summary: Crime-solving just got a whole lot more interesting for Marinette and her crew.





	1. Prologue

Who’d’ve thought that the paranormal would come to the aid of justice?

Most of the time, when strange things happened, people would laugh awkwardly and ignore the obvious strangeness of the situation. Yet, when Marinette and her crew are able to solve cases with the kwamis help, they are grateful for the partnership. She’s one of the few that have a Kwami; a guide of sorts that helps her through life, giving advice and telling her things that she needed to know (with a little coaxing using sweets, of course). Not everyone could see the Kwamis but that’s what helps in searching and finding the truth easier: with them having abilities humans do not have. 

Yes, being a detective has its own perks, but when you have a being that can scan through people's houses quickly for a glimpse inside to determine if a warrant would be necessary? Let’s just say “perk” is just the beginning. To people that don’t see them, they’re almost myth-like, like a fairy or sprite. But Kwami’s are so much more than that. They say they’re deities, like the well-known Greek gods and goddesses. 

Tikki is the kwami of creation. Master Fu had given Marinette a magical piece of jewelry when she was just 13, the earrings allowing her to see Tikki constantly and not only when Tikki felt as though she needed to step in. It was special, being able to see her kwami all the time. Tikki is quite the amazing individual because she has her own unique personality, as all kwamis do. Marinette knew of four other miraculous holders. 

A fox-styled kwami named Trixx was the god of illusions and very sly; hence the name Trixx. Alya was not only one of her best friends, but also one of her co-workers and the holder of the fox miraculous. She’s always very thorough doing her research, hunting down leads at all hours of the day, sometimes going into the field without her partner, Nino.

Nino doesn’t like that very much. He’s great at negotiating and being able to distinguish the facts beneficial to the case; as well as being able to go through the paperwork that Alya creates. Alya finds the facts from lies, allowing the case to have a large base of reasons for warrants or arrests. Thankfully, Nino is there to step in to help with his turtle kwami Wayzz, the god of protection. Being such a gentle, yet fiercely protective person, it made sense that Nino is a sort of passage way for protection. He’s protected Alya through their partnership. Marinette also believed he fancies Alya on top of their professional relationship.

Alya spoke of romantic feelings towards her partner in one of their late-night hangouts when Marinette was working on her latest outfit.

“He’s so sweet. I don’t even have to tell him my coffee order anymore,” Alya was saying from where she was half-lying, half-sitting on the floor against a beanbag. “I can’t even think of anything bad that man’s done.” A sigh passed her lips as she tossed up the stress-ball with a cute face of a fox. She rolled over to face Marinette, who was working on getting the needle threaded in her sewing machine. “Mari? I think I have feelings for my partner.” Marinette paused on her mission, spinning around. 

“Okay, so, how does he make you feel?”

“Protected.” Oh how ironic was “protected” being her first word? “Safe and where I know that he’ll be able to catch me; to have my back if I need him while we’re in the field, you know?” 

Yeah, Marinette knew, though in a completely different way. “Yeah, I get what you mean,” Marinette said, her eyes glazing over as she thought of her own partner.

The young detective was offered a chance to work on a ‘slightly infamous’ case of a missing person: Emilie Agreste. She went missing when her son was only 12, who worked under his father’s very protective eye. Ah, Adrien Agreste, the famous model. His career started out with his father a few years before his mother went missing and had just continued on into the adult life. He had a kwami, too, from the few times she’d seen him with the sketch artist, Nathaniel. 

He had information about a cold-case and Marinette and her team were able to track down the suspect and arrest them for a 12-year-old murder. How Adrien did it still baffled others to this day. But not Marinette; she knew his secret. It’s more than just the ring miraculous he wears on his hand; it’s the way he distances himself within the middle of a conversation and picks up words and accents that are unfamiliar, to both himself and others, in the area they reside.

‘He’s a medium, Marinette,’ she reminded herself quietly, the term still strange to her. It still made it no less than incredible that the justice system had been helped by the unknown, the supernatural, the dead; it went beyond just the kwami’s or miraculous’ abilities to see other kwamis. Adrien had abilities that she never thought could be possible, yet here she was with a partner with the ability to communicate with the dead. Kinda freaky, but also kinda cool. He keeps it very hush-hush, though, as to not attract much unwanted attention. You could say he’s a simple lad with a not-so-simply horrible story.

“What was that?” Alya asked, interrupted in her own outward musings.

“Nothing, sorry,” Marinette replied quickly. “Please continue.”

“Don’t think I didn’t see you zoning out, girl. Do you wanna talk about it?”

Her best friend shook her head. “No, it’s nothing. Just thinking things through.”

After staring at her for a few seconds, Alya stood herself up. She knew that when Marinette got like this, she needed space, especially considering recent developments at the station.

“Can we talk more tomorrow? I might need some me time to figure out my feelings, anyway.”

Marinette nodded absently, already zoning out again. The redhead let herself out, only after taking a picture of the dark-haired detective. She was SO teasing Marinette at work tomorrow! Of course, already back into her thoughts, Marinette didn’t notice; she was thinking about her own kwami’s counterpart.

Adrien’s kwami is the god of destruction, a floating black cat named Plagg with a very strange addiction to Camembert cheese. Adrien often wonders why he loves that specific cheese over all the others. Marinette laughed slightly at the memory of seeing Tikki for the first time; she had appeared out of nowhere one day in the bakery her parents ran. Marinette had almost fallen over and lost a large package of pastries if Tikki hadn’t stepped in to move the rolling pin. It wasn’t until after she had given the customers their boxes that Marinette first saw Tikki. She was promptly startled, claiming the kwami was a floating bug-mouse! But the gentle giggles of Tikki had calmed her down dramatically. Marinette was probably only seven at the time. 

Then, when she was in the first few years of lycee, she saw Master Fu crossing the street and helped him after he “fell”; he put on the act to test her and see if she was ready to hold her own miraculous. He had later come into the shop when she was present to discuss something with her, motioning to where he had seen Tikki floating. Right then, Marinette knew he wasn’t a normal customer. He had asked for a cup of tea to discuss with Marinette the abilities that the miraculous can give her as an actual piece of material object rather than only being able to see just Tikki. She had agreed, having never known anyone to directly point Tikki out to her, so she’d wanted to know more.

Putting on the earrings for the first time was a wild ride. She remembered Tikki slowly fading into a solid form. Tikki had gone from a shadow being to a friend, and even now into a partner in crime-solving. It was also a curious thing to see other kwamis. You could almost tell the difference between people that knew about the existence of their kwamis and those that didn’t. People would be walking around and mumble something under their breath before chuckling quietly, their eyes constantly looking at a certain spot. Sometimes, it was their shoulder, other times, it was in the air a little to the side of them; but once the earrings were on, Marinette was able to see all the other kwamis, all the time. She couldn’t always communicate with them, but Tikki could. 

That was how she discovered Alya and Nino’s kwamis. She could see them floating around the office, curious about what human lives were like and how a computer worked. Tikki had said that they’ve (the kwamis) been around since the beginning of time, but are not always active during periods of time. They would be put back into their respective jewels to remain docile until the next one with a connection to them was born and the guardianship would begin all over again. Sometimes, it was along the same hereditary line, whereas other times it was completely random. Very seldom of times it was a version of reincarnation.

Master Fu had explained that these reincarnations are the reason the Guardians of the Miraculous are there to pass the jewels along to the next generation. They exhibit different quirks that past holders of the jewels also had, allowing them to receive the miraculous to give them the full abilities that holders have. 

Marinette, being the good detective she was, was curious on how all this mumbo jumbo would play out through the course of her life.


	2. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse of Adrien's mornings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys!! Starrgazer here, I hope yall enjoy this next addition to the story. Sorry about the long wait, but life just gets in the way. Thanks for the patience and I hope yall enjoy!!

"Adrien… Adrien… Wake up. Adrien, wake up!" 

 

An irritating voice was trying to rouse him from beautiful, beautiful sleep. 

 

"ADRIEN!" 

 

The annoyed scream erupted and did its job in jerking the sleeping blonde upright. 

"Alright! I'm up, I'm up. Now stop your yelling,"  Adrien groaned, waving at the floating black creature out to the side of him. While cranky at Plagg for waking him, Adrien was always thankful that Plagg wasn't a shadow person. 

"Good. Now get up and feed me. Then we can get on with _your_ day." Plagg spoke sarcastically as he hovered in the air. Adrien rolled his eyes affectionately. 

"You know where the cheese is, you pig." He motioned wildly in the general direction where it was stored. A grumble escaped the floating black cat as he floated away to his precious cheese. 

Adrien ran a hand through his bedhead before standing up with a stretch and a yawn. Heading over to the bathroom to jump in for a quick shower, he tried to ignore the normal tug that wanted him to look in the mirror. He really didn't want to look and see anything out of the norm. Blocking it out from his mind, he headed into the shower, going through his usual hair care routine before he paused. 

Suddenly, he found he wasn't in the shower, instead standing in the middle of a sidewalk in the pouring rain. He looked around in confusion, trying to gather his bearings best he could in this new situation. He heard splashes before he saw a blonde woman running, her hair falling against her back as she ran hastily, her breath ragged. He moved out of her way before she glanced over her shoulder, her bright blue eyes catching his green ones before she looked forward again. 

 

Eyebrows stitched together as his concerned filled eyes peered behind to see if he could spot anyone following her.

 

No one was there. 

 

Distress settled in his stomach as he realized what was going to happen, and turned back towards an alleyway where he'd seen the girl dash.

 

That's never good. 

 

He saw her blue rain boots disappear around the corner before a scream rang out. A chill along his spine catapulted him towards her before he arrived in the alley himself. She was lying upon the ground, hair sprawled long above her head. One arm was laying at an awkward angle, and upon closer observation, he noted blood escaping the corner of her mouth. 

 

As he approached and knelt down by her, she moved her head, where a bruise was already forming, and she opened her beautiful, now-pale eyes to stare into his. He stumbled back at the intensity, causing him to fall against a wall. Crashing back into his shower, leaning against the wet wall, reality sunk back into place. Gasping for air, he propped himself up best he could, reaching to turn off the water and grab a towel to wrap around his lower half.

 

"Plagg!!!" he called out with a cracked voice, leaning out of the shower and gripping the handle he had installed just for this purpose. "Plagg!" 

 

He looked up as he tumbled out of the shower, the little kwami flying into the bathroom with a solemn look on his face. 

"I know, kitten." He rested his tiny forehead on Adrien’s; this was how Plagg saw exactly what Adrien had seen. "I'm here." Plagg said in the best reassuring voice he could muster.

"We... need… we need to find he...her."

"Kid, you know she's not going to be alive," Plagg cautioned him.

"I know that." Adrien sent him a glare, yet the panic clear. "But what if no one else has seen or found her?"

“Kid…” Plagg drifted off slightly, not wanting to cause Adrien anymore anxiety.

“What?! I can’t just leave her! I had to have this vision for some reason!” The blonde stepped out of the shower, fully standing now. He finished drying off his body and wrapped the towel around his waist as he tangled his fingers in his hair. “Why would she reach out to me! To gather information! What if her family is wondering where she is or what happened to her? We can’t just let her lay there in a random filthy allyway!”

He looked at the floating kwami, frustrated. “What if it was Mom?!” 

Tears pricked his eyes as he stood, breathing heavily after the screaming he had done. Plagg blinked his cold green eyes slowly before warmth exploded out of them as he looked at his chosen.

“Ki- Adrien,” he said softly, looking at him sadly. “You know she isn’t your mother.” He floated closer, heading down to hold eye contact with Adrien. “And you know as well as I do, that she is not… gone. Not dead,” Plagg finished explaining with a paw on his chosen’s nose before nuzzling his cheek. “Now, get dressed so we can find this mystery girl.”

 

“Claire,” Adrien muttered suddenly, looking into the mirror to see a nod from the spirit trapped inside. “Her name is Claire.”

 

* * *

  
  
  
  


Adrien relaxed back in his chair in a coffee room at the police department, speaking with Nathaniel about the girl he had seen- found. Plagg was exploring the new snacks they had left behind with the coffee next to it. Adrien scratched the back of his neck, sighing as he was reliving the image of Claire and the few minutes before she died. 

“You said she had long blonde hair? How long?” Nathaniel asked. He typically would do two versions of the victim: a facial and a body to see if they’d be able to officially I.D. her with any sort of luck. Adrien closed his eyes, thumb and index finger resting on the bridge of his nose before following the trail up to his forehead, smoothing over his eyebrows.

“The hair was thin… It looked to reach just below her elbows when she was running. Hair was…. Naturally straight?” He looked up and over at Plagg, who nodded as he held some cheese he had found somewhere. “Yes, it was naturally straight.” 

Nathaniel nodded, looking down as he continued to sketch, applying the final touches on the sketch to see if it really is who Adrien had seen. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Plagg freeze mid bite to watch someone. Curiously, he followed the kwami’s gaze, landing on a woman with a pixie cut, but that’s not what had caught Plagg’s attention. It was the red beetle kwami that had floated beside her, whispering in her ear before vanishing into a bag. Adrien sat up in his seat as he looked over at Nathaniel before looking back at the bluenette. 

“I know who you’re going to ask about. No, she isn’t new.” Nathaniel looked up from beneath his bangs. “Adrien, is this who you saw?” he asked, turning to face the sketchbook towards the blonde in question. 

Adrien’s eyes took in every bit of the sketch. The eyes were just as lively as they would have been if she was alive and happy; her hair gracefully fell down to rest at her elbows; her face was rounded with the prominent cheekbones he distinctly remembered, along with the long bridge of her nose. Eyes shifted towards Plagg to get a nod of confirmation that it was indeed the same woman.

“Yes, that’s who I saw.” Adrien confirmed, sadly looking at the portrait of her face. “Claire. We’ll find you.” 

He whispered to Plagg, if not only to himself.

Nathaniel nodded as Adrien passed back the sketches. “So…” He coughs as he stands, reaching back to rub the back of his neck as he avoids eye contact. “I realize that Barts has retired… And moved to Australia for a peaceful retirement. So…” He trailed off, not sure how to entirely ask the impending question without sounding like he was COMPLETELY using Nathaniel for his connections.

“Just spit it out, Adrien. You and I both know exactly what you’re going to be asking about.” Nathaniel told him, standing up and putting away his utensils and sliding the sketches in their own folders.

“Who’s the new detective for my mother's case?” He asked, glancing up at Nathaniel from under his bangs. Was that a smirk he saw on Nathaniel's lips?

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” He motioned to the bluenette girl that was now talking to Alya and Nino. “She seems skilled. Amazingly nice. Her parents own a bakery and she’s brought in macaroons and croissants.” Nathaniel slung his bag over his shoulder and met Adrien at the door, gesturing him out in front. “And it sounds like she designed their logo along with her and Alya’s clothes. She’ll probably be reaching out to you soon to discuss your mother's case.” He nudged him in the elbow before smirking. “See you later, Adrien.” 

Nathaniel gave a final pat on Adrien's shoulder before heading to his own place of work, leaving Adrien standing awkwardly with Plagg floating next to him.

“Soooo you going to introduce yourself to pixie-cut before or after she talks to you about your mother’s case?” Plagg smirked, his little tail flicking behind him as they watched the girl in question. Adrien shrugged, glancing over at Plagg, crossing his arms.

“I dunno.” Adrien smirked back as he watched the girl talk to Alya and Nino, nodding strictly as she motioned them to go. They separated from her before jarring each other in a way that had unhinged tension between them. 

“Ten bucks say they’ll get together before she asks you about the case.” Plagg chuckled as they watched the two detective police walk off, glancing at each other as they walked off when the other wasn’t looking.

“Mmmmm I agree.” Adrien pondered. “How bout ten on them not telling her until after she talks to me about the case?” Adrien suggested, glancing at Plagg.

“Deal,” his companion snorted before zooming and hiding in his pocket as Marinette had turned at the sound of the snort. Adrien awkwardly waved at her, before pointing at the door, hoping she understood that he was leaving.

 

Unfortunately, she thought he was asking her to follow him so they could talk.


End file.
